Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography in the Presence of Cardiac Metastases

Abstract

Physiological fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake can obscure underlying disease or can even falsely suggest disease in patients undergoing whole-body positron emission tomography (PET) scanning for disease staging. Myocardial uptake in particular can present a problem because of its variability in fasting patients. Nonetheless, we present 2 cases in which FDG PET imaging was effective in identifying metastatic disease to the heart. In 1 case, an FDG PET scan revealed previously unsuspected myocardial metastases. In another case, FDG PET was useful in characterizing an intraatrial mass seen on anatomic imaging as a metabolically active lesion.